Cricketer Phil Hughes in intensive care after surgery

Cricketer Phil Hughes was struck by a cricket ball 'in the worst place possible' and faces a one or two day wait to see how surgery went, as Adam Harvey reports from St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney.

Transcript

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LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: Let's get an update now on the condition of cricketer Phil Hughes, injured in that awful incident this afternoon. Our reporter Adam Harvey is outside St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney.

Adam, what's the latest on Phil Hughes' condition?

ADAM HARVEY, REPORTER: Leigh, Phil remains in intensive care here at St Vincent's Hospital. He's got his family by his bedside, and really, nothing's expected to change for about 24 to 48 hours while doctors just wait for the swelling on his brain to subside.

LEIGH SALES: What can you tell me about the type of surgery that he would have been through this afternoon?

ADAM HARVEY: Leigh, the type of surgery is basically drilling into the skull to reduce the pressure to allow the bleeding and the swelling to reduce. Now, I've spoken to a neurosurgeon, a brain expert, who says that he was injured right behind the ear in the worst possible spot, the weakest spot of the skull where there's also a major blood vessel. Now that blood vessel has swollen, possibly burst, leading to the bleeding and the bruising which puts awful pressure on the brain and the brain is compressed downwards and restricts vital functions like breathing. Now the critical thing is to get him to hospital as quickly as possible so that they can drill into the skull and try and reduce that pressure and that's exactly what happened. Recovery time is about 24 to 48 hours while they wait for the swelling to reduce and really there's not much more that they can do, Leigh.